In his rollicking memoir of the world as he saw it through the bottom of a
wine glass, the British oenophile Hugh Johnson declared that “imperial
hegemony lives in Washington and the dictator of taste in Baltimore”.

This was a reference to Robert Parker, the powerful wine critic who lives 30
miles north of Baltimore, issuing decrees on new vintages, making the
fortunes of producers and regions he favours and educating the palates of
millions.

But the world is changing. Wine-drinking empires are rising in the East. Just
as President Obama plots a strategic “pivot to Asia”, so Mr Parker